The Irish Question

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The Irish Question

• By Jakub Bína
• RAMZ

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What is The Irish Question?

• Complex problem
• Dates back to twelfth century when England
  imposed a feudal landowing system on Ireland
• Feudal lords (noblemen) were granted large tracts
  of land
• The landowners (mostly English) became wealthy,
  while the farm workers and other laborers (Irish)
  lived in great powerty

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What is The Irish Question?

• Great social problems came during the 1600s and
  1700s
• The English tried to impose Protestantism
• Ireland had a mainly Catholic population
• Irish Catholics rebelled agains English and
  Protestant domination
• Events like Irish Catholic rebellion (1641) and
  civil war came
• Oliver Cromwell re-conquered Ireland killing 1/3
  of Irish Catholics

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What is The Irish Question?

• Food tended to be produced for export rather than
  for domestic needs
• Two very cold winters led directly to the Great
  Irish Famine (1740-1741) killing over 400 000
  people
• In 1801 the Act of Union came, which merged
  Kingdom of Ireland and the Kingdom of Great
  britain to create the United Kingdom

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What is the Irish Question?

• The second of Ireland's "Great Famines"struck the
  country severely in the period 1845-1849, leading
  to mass starvation and emigration. It was named
  Irish Potato Famine.
• The impact of emigration in Ireland was great
  the population dropped from over 8 million before
  the Famine to 4.4 million in 1911.

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What is the Irish Question?

• A series of violent rebellions by Irish
  republicans took place in 1803
• In 1848 a rebellion by Young Irelanders and in
  1867 by the Irish Republican Brotherhood- All
  failed
• Tension between nationalists and unionists
  (northeast- Protestants, industry, wealth)
• But most of the island was Catholic and
  nationalist

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What is The Irish Question?

• As the First World War broke out, a failed
  attempt was made to gain separate independence
  for Ireland in 1916, called Easter Rising
• In the December 1918 elections most voters voted
  for Sinn Féin, the party of the rebels. Having
  won three-quarters of all the seats in Ireland
• On 21. 1. 1919 Irish Republic parliament was
  established, trying to gain indipendence of the
  country
• The Irish Republican army started a fight against
  the British (1919-1921)

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What is the Irish Question?

• During this war the island was divided into two
  parts- "Northern Ireland" and "Southern Ireland
• In mid-1921, the Irish and British governments
  signed a truce that stopped the war
• In December 1921, representatives of both
  governments signed an Anglo-Irish Treaty. The
  Irish delegation was led by Arthur Griffith and
  Michael Collins. This established the Irish
  Republic and created the Irish Free State
• Northern Ireland could stay within the United
  Kingdom and it did so

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                                  Political
map of Ireland.
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What is the Irish Question?

• Many people emigrated the new country in 1920s
  due to great powerty
• Also lots of Protestants left the Catholic
  country, because they felt unwelcomed
• The country stayed neutral during WW2
• In 1949 the state was formally declared the
  Republic of Ireland and it left the British
  Commonwealth
• In 1990s the Republic of Ireland gained big
  economical strengh- Celtic tiger

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What is the Irish Question?

• Northern Ireland- a a protestant state
• The founding Prime Minister, James Craig, proudly
  declared that it would be a Protestant State for
  Protestant People
• Tensions came to a head with the events of Bloody
  Sunday and Bloody Friday, and the worst years
  (early 1970s) of what became known as The
  Troubles resulted.
• Private armies such as the Provisional IRA, the
  Official IRA, the INLA, the Ulster Defence
  Association and the Ulster Volunteer Force
• Fights against the British army and Unionists-
  3000 dead people

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What is the Irish Question?

• During the 1970s British policy concentrated on
  defeating the IRA by military force
• 1986- Anglo Irish Agreement signaling a formal
  partnership in seeking a political solution.
• In the 1990s- progress towards peace
• 40 population of Northern Ireland are Catholics
• the Belfast Agreement (Good Friday Agreement)
  of April 10, 1998 brought a degree of power
  sharing to Northern Ireland, giving both
  unionists and nationalists control of limited
  areas of government
• The situation is hopefully taking a peaceful way

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• Thank U for attention